Pretzels
Ingredients
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 ¼ cups warm water
5 cups all purpose flour
½ cup sugar
¼ cup lye* or ½ cup of baking soda
1 tablespoon oil
1 ¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup kosher salt for sprinkling on pretzels
Directions
Dissolve yeast in warm water (110 degrees F)
Add a 1 teaspoon of sugar to prime yeast
Mix flour, ½ cup sugar, and salt.
Add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough.
Add more water if mixture is too dry 1 teaspoon at a time.
Knead dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes.
Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F
Divide dough into 10 equal parts
Roll into logs about 12" long
Allow logs to sit for 10 minutes and then stretch them to 24" or as long as you can without breaking them
Form the logs into the classic pretzel shape
Dip formed pretzels into a solution of 5 cups of warm water and ¼ cup of lye
or substitute ½ cup baking soda instead of lye
Important Note* Lye is the principal ingredient found in commercial drain cleaner such as Drano. If you opt for dipping in lye, wear rubber gloves and be very careful
Place the dipped pretzels on parchment covered cookie sheets
Sprinkle pretzels with kosher salt
Place cookie sheets in oven preheated to 450 degrees F
Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown
Alternate Recipe
Ingredients
Pretzel dough
2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast, 1 standard packet
1 cup warm water
1 tbs unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour + up to ¾ cup more if needed
Baking Soda Bath
2 cups water
2 tbs baking soda
Topping
1 tbs coarse salt, for sprinkling on top
6 tbs salted butter, melted
Instructions
Preheat oven to 475°F and line a large baking sheet or two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Combine yeast with warm water and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with hook attachment.
Once mixture becomes "frothy" your yeast is ready. Stir in salt and 1 tbs of melted butter.
Add flour 1 cup at a time and knead on lowest setting until a dough forms and is no longer very sticky.
You may need more or less depending on temperature differences. If you press your finger into the dough and it bounces back, it's ready to knead.
Knead dough for 5 minutes or until smooth and pliable.
Form dough into a ball by hand. Lightly grease the bowl used previously and place the dough back in to rest for 15 minutes. Cover with a damp towel.
In a medium sized pot, boil 2 cups of water with 2 tbs of baking soda. Once the baking soda is mostly dissolved, take mixture off heat and pour into a shallow dish.
After 15 minutes, take dough out of the bowl and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Cut dough into 8 sections (like a pizza).
Roll each triangle into a long rope, about 19-20 inches long. Shape dough into pretzel shape and place in baking soda bath for 2 minutes.
If the whole pretzel isn't covered by the water, spoon it on top of the areas is doesn't reach.
Once the 2 minutes is up, carefully pick pretzel up either by your hand or with the help of a fork or spatula and place on prepared baking sheet. You may have to re-shape slightly.
Sprinkle the pretzels with coarse salt while still wet. Repeat these steps until all 8 pretzels are prepared and on the baking sheets.
Bake pretzels for 8-9 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately from the oven, brush (heavily) with 6 tbs of melted butter.
These homemade soft pretzels are best served hot and fresh out of the oven but will keep for about 2 days stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
Pop them in the microwave and they're good as new!
Notes
Make Ahead Instructions: Prepared dough can be made one day in advance. Shape the pretzels and allow them to rest for 10 minutes before popping them into the oven.
Prepared dough can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen dough overnight in the refrigerator.
Freezing Instructions: Freeze baked and cooled pretzels for up to 3 months. To reheat, bake (frozen) at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until center is warmed through.
You can also microwave for a few minutes until heated through.
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